Exercising chair



United St tes P 69 2,915,055 nxnncrsmocnsm Ernest E. Matton, Andover,Mass., assignor to I Edwin Braverman, Lowell, Mass.

Application March 13, 1957, Serial No. 645,784

'8 Claims. .(Cl. 128-25) and the limbs oscillated only. in verticalplanes while the person is comfortable and completely passive.

It is the principal object of the invention to provide an exercisingdevice having a fixed foot support, a comfortable chair supported onrockers and pivotally linked arm and hand supports arranged to oscillateuniformly in vertical planes when the chair is automatically rocked. Thehands, arms and legs of a passive invalid person are thus swung invertical arcs on their respective. joints to limber the same withoutfrightening, straining or nervously upsetting the person.

Another object of the invention is to provide an exercising arm chairand a method of exercising a passive person in which all of the body,limb and hand supports move while the foot support remains stationary,thereby retaining the orientation and confidence of the patient.

.A further object of the invention is to provide an exercising device ofsimple, rugged, low cost construction adapted to be within the financialmeans of most invalids and suitable for home use as well as hospital orphysicians use. a i I 1 Still another object of the invention is theprovision of an exercising chair in whichthe hand supports and armsupports are oscillated on different arcs whereby the wrist joint isexercised as well as all of the joints of the limbs.

A stillfurther object of the invention is to provide an.

exercising chair in which the supports are adjustable to accommodatepersons of various sizes and the charr,

while normally stationary, is movable on wheels when desired.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from theclaims, the description of the drawing and from the drawing in which-Fig. 1 is a side view of the invention,

Fig. 2 a rear view of the invention,

Fig. 3 a plan view of the invention,

Fig. 4 is a front view of the invention in section on line 4-4 of Fig.1, and

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view similar to Fig. 1, showing the path of themoving supports of the invention.

As shown in Figs. 1 to 4 the exercising device 20 of this inventionincludes torso support means 21 having a seat 22 and a back support 23oscillatable on a horizontal axis below the seat. Preferably the torsosupport means 21 is mounted on rockers 24 and 25 to form a rockablechair and the rockers are prevented from creeping by coil springs suchas 26 well known in the rocking chair art. A conventional tubularaluminum chair is illustrated for convenience having legs such as 27 forsupporting It. is. especially useful for flexing the 2,915,055 (7Patented Dec. 1, 1959 "ice I the seat 22 at a substantial distance abovethe rockers,

back braces such as 28 and side arms such as 29, the latter serving onlyas braces in this invention.

The. arm support means 31 of the invention comprises a pair of rigidmembers 32 and 33, each oscillatable on a fixed horizontal axis 34 or 35located in rear of torso support means 21. It is preferred that thehorizontal axes 34 and 35 be at the top of a rearward upstanding portion36 of a base 37 upon which the rockers 24 and are rockable. As shown,the upstanding portion 36 comprises a pair of posts 38 and 39 divergingupwardly and connected by a cross bar 40, the cross bar serving as asafety stop at the rear of the path of the back support 23. The axes 34and 35 are formed by hinge pivots 41 and 42 and the members 32 and 33include slots such as 44 for threaded tightening elements such as 45 foradjusting the length thereof relative to the said hinge pivots.

The hand support means 47 of the invention comprise a pair of rigidmembers 48 and 49 each oscillatableon horizontal axes at the front ofthe seat 22 of torso support means 21. For convenience, a pair ofelements 50 and 51 are each fixed to one of the side arms 29 of themeans 21 by bolts such as 52 to rock integrally with the same. Theelements 50 and 51 could, however, be formed by an extension of the legs27 or back 28, the essential point being that they hingedly support theelements 50 and 51 at the front of the seat 22 and at a level aboutmidway between the seat 22 and the arm support members 32 and 33. Ahinge pivot such as 53 and 54, similar to hinge pivots 41 and 42,connects the members 48 and 49 to the elements 50 and 51 and similarhinge pivots 55 and-56 connect the members 32 and 33 to the members 48and 49. Each hand support member such as 48includes a slot 57 for therod 58 of a hand grip 59 there being a threaded tightening element 60for affixing the grip 59 at the desired height. The hand grip 59 is ar-59 may be adjusted by the threaded element 60 to accommodatepersons ofvarious sizes and to create various arcs of oscillation.

Preferably the base 37 includes a pair of opposite low levelplatforms 62and 63 upon which the rockers 24 and 25 and the springs such as 26 aremounted and a central, higher level, platform 64 upon which theactuatingmeans 65 is mounted. The opposite sides 66 and 67 of platform64 tend to guide the rockers and prevent twisting of the same. A footsupport 68 is provided having a section 69 slideable within the platform64 and latchable thereto by means of latch 71 at various desiredhorizontal distances therefrom. Foot support 68 includes a stool or pad72 slideable vertically therein to various positions by means of theslots such as 73 and wing bolts 74. The foot support 68 is thus fixedwell in front of the torso support means 21 and extends above the levelof the rockers 24 and 25 to hold the feet in immovable raised positionwith the knees correspondingly raised while the torso is rocked backwardand forward. The leg and ankle joints are thus exercised while the feetremain stationary to give the patient a feeling of confidence.

The actuating means 65 of the invention includes an electric motor 76connected by a suitable power train 77 to a gear reducer 78, the reduceroperating a crank shaft 79 attached at 80 to the torso support means 21.Prefer ably a cover, not shown, is provided over actuating means 65 anda control switch 81 is provided on one of the arm support members suchas 31 for opening and closing the circuit to motor 76 all in a wellknown manner. The crank shaft 79 rocks the seat support 22 and the backsupport 23 on a horizontal axis substantially below the seat support 22,the rocking movement oscillating the hand support means 47 on movablehorizontal axes 53, 54 and 55, 56 and oscillating arm support means 31on the fixed axes 34', 35. i

As diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. 5 thetorso support means 121, atthe rear of its rocking path, will cause the legs and arms of thepatient to tend to straighten to thereby exercise the wrist and anklejoints as well as the limb joints. At the front of the rocking path oftorso support means 21 the legs and arms of the patient will tend tobend to thereby draw the knees upwardly, bend the hand upwardly at thewrist and bend the arm at the elbow. The leverage and linkage of the armsupport means 131 and the hand support means 147 is arranged to fiex thewrists, ankles, arms and legs in vertical planes with no lateral motionand without straining the muscles or joints.

Preferably base 37 is provided with fixed wheels such as 83 at itsrearward end, which may be swivel type casters and foot support 68includes a plate 84 pivoted at 85 and carrying a pair of wheels such as86. A thrust screw 87 is provided whereby the wheels 86 may normally beswung upwardly out of contact with the floor or ground but may belowered into supporting engagement with the base for rolling the devicehorizontally in cooperation with wheels 83.

I claim:

1. A device for exercising a passive person, said device comprising aunitary seat and back support rockable at a spaced distance above ahorizontal axis on a base and adapted to support a passive person insitting position; a stationary base including a low fiat platformproximate the level of said axis and an upstanding portion terminatingabove the rocking path of said seat and proximate the rear thereof; apairof oscillatable arm supports, each pivotable on a horizontal axis atits rearward end to the terminal end of said upstanding base portion andeach extending along an opposite side of said seat to a forward end infront of said seat; a pair of oscillatable hand supports, each pivotableon a horizontal axis at the lower end to the front of said seat, eachpivoted intermediate thereof to a forward end of oneof said arm supportsand each terminating in a hand grip above said arm supports; motoroperated means on said base for rocking said unitary seat and backsupport and oscillating said arm and hand supports and foot supportmeans associated with said base and adapted to support the feet of aperson in said device at a spaced distance in front of, and above thelevel of, the axis of said unitary seat and back support.

2. An exercising device comprising rockable chair means; a stationarybase supporting said rockable chair means, said base having a foot stoolat the front thereof and a pair of upstanding posts at the rear thereof,a pair of hand supports, each pivoted to the front of the seat of saidrockable chair means and extending upwardly therefrom; a pair of armsupports, each pivoted intermediate of a hand support at the forward endthereof and each pivoted to one of said upstanding posts at the rearwardend thereof and motor power means on said base, connected to saidrockable chair means for rocking the same relative to said base.

3. In an exercising device, a base; torso support means, including aseat and back, pivotally mounted on said base for oscillation on ahorizontal axis; arm support means extending along each opposite side ofsaid torso support means and pivotally mounted on an upstanding portionof said base for oscillation on a horizontal axis located rearwardly ofthe back of said torso support means; hand support means, on eachopposite side of said torso support means, pivotally mounted on the seatof said torso support means for oscillation on a horizontal axis; saidarm support means being pivotally interconnected to said hand supportmeans; a foot support secured to said base forwardly of said torsosupport means and motor drive means-on said base connected to said torsosupport means for oscillating all of said support means and therebyexercising the hands and limbs of a human body supported in said device.

4. A combination as specified in claim 3 wherein said foot supportextends upwardly from said base to a plane substantially higher than theplane of the pivot mounting of said torso support means.

5. Acombination as specified in claim 3 plus threaded mechanism on saidarm support means and on said hand support -means for varying theelfective length thereof from their respective pivot mountings.

6. A combination as specified in claim 3 wherein the pivotalinterconnection of said arm support means to said 'hand support means isintermediate of the height of the 8. A combination as specified in claim3 wherein said foot support includes means for slideably advancing andretractingthe same in a horizontal plane relative to said base.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSGoodman June 11, 1901 1,984,397 Dalyze Dec. 18, 1934 2,278,861 BurkeApr. 7, 1942 2,550,841 Martinez May 1, 1951

